“We are interested in the time that people spend with newspaper brands, because this allows us to compare online and print audiences in a way you can’t easily do if you just look at readership,” said Neil Thurman, professor at City, University of London and LMU University of Munich, and one of the report’s authors.

“Most newspapers are getting the majority of their revenues from print, so there is a correlation between the time that people are spending with a brand in a particular medium and the value of those print or digital readers,” he said.

“Look at the revenues – even The New York Times is still getting 65 per cent of its revenues from print, and that’s one of the most advanced digital newspapers.”